My thoughts on the Phillies season.

Phillies win an extra-innings thriller in Washington as they defeat the Nationals, 10-6.

Thanks to a bunch of walks from Nats pitching and some timely hitting, the Phils are finally able to defeat the Nationals in extra-innings, 10-6, hours after meeting the President inside the White House and hours before a day-night doubleheader.

The Phils took the lead in the second, as, with runners on the corners, and two men out, Carlos Ruiz hits an RBI single, scoring Raul Ibanez, who had earlier singled and had gone to second on Pedro Feliz’s single, giving the Phils a 1-0 lead, while sending Feliz, who had earlier singled, on to third. The Nats tied the game up at one-all in the third, as, with a runner on second, and one man out, Ryan Zimmerman hits an RBI single off of Chase Utley’s glove, scoring Nick Johnson, who had earlier walked, and had gone to second on Phils’ starter Joe Blanton’s wild pitch, and beat a surprised Utley throw to the plate, while Zimmerman would move up to second on the throw. Later, with the bases loaded, thanks to walks to Adam Dunn and Austin Kearns, and now with two men out, the Nationals took a 2-1 lead as Anderson Hernandez walked, plating Zimmerman, while moving both Dunn and Kearns up a base, leaving the bases loaded. Wil Neaves then made it a 4-1 Nats lead as he hits a two-run single, scoring both Dunn and Kearnes, while sending Hernandez on to third. The Phils would come back in the sixth, as, with two men on, and two men out, Feliz hits an RBI single, scoring Utley, who had earlier been hit by the pitch, and had gone up to second when Ibanez was also hit by a pitch, making it a 4-2 Nats’ lead, while sending Ibanez, who was also hit by a pitch, to third. Ruiz would make it a 4-3 Nats’ lead, as he hits an RBI single, scoring Ibanez, while sending Feliz up to second. The Phils then took the lead in the seventh, as, with two men on, and one out, Ryan Howard hits a three-run home run, his seventh home run of the year, knocking in Jimmy Rollins, who had earlier walked, stole second, and then moved to third on Shane Victorino’s single, and Victorino, who had just singled. Then in the ninth, the Phils gave the ball to Brad Lidge to close out the game. Sadly, it did not happen, as, with two on, and two men out, Willie Harris hits a two-run double, scoring Zimmerman, who had earlier singled, and had gone on to second on Dunn’s grounder to third, which lead to a force out of Johnson, who had earlier singled, as Feliz touched third base for the inning’s second out, but beating the throw to first, making it a six-all tie. The two teams would be unable to do anything in either the tenth or the eleventh, but the Phils would retake the lead in the twelfth, as, with the bases loaded, via walks to Utley, Howard and Jayson Werth, and one man out, Ibanez hits a two-run single, knocking in Utley and Howard, while moving Werth up to second base, giving the Phils an 8-6 lead. Then, with Feliz batting, Werth and Ibanez performed a double steal, which lead to Werth scoring, making it a 9-6 Phils’ lead, as Nats’ catcher Nieves committed a throwing error to center field while trying to throw out Ibanez at second. Feliz then made it a 10-6 Phils’ lead, as Feliz hits an RBI double, scoring Ibanez. That would end up being the final score, as J.A. Happ would get the win, in spite of having some trouble in the inning.

Joe Blanton received a no-decision as he was only able to pitch five innings, giving up four runs on five hits, six walks and a wild pitch, while striking out five. Chad Durbin followed with a scoreless inning, hitting one batter, while also striking out one. Scott Eyre then recorded his fifth hold, as he pitched two-thirds of an inning. Ryan Madson followed for an inning and a third, recording his sixth hold, striking out one. Brad Lidge recorded his second blown save of the year, as he gave up two runs on two hits and a walk, while striking out one. Clay Condrey then pitched a scoreless inning. J.A. Happ picked up the win as he pitched two scoreless inning, giving up just one hit, one walk and hitting a batter, while striking out three. His record is now 2-0 with a 2.49 ERA. John Lannan also recorded a no-decision, as he went five and two-thirds innings, giving up three runs on six hits, a walk and two hit batters, as he struck out only two. Garrett Mock pitched to only one batter, giving up a hit. Ron Villone recorded his second hold as he pitched a third of an inning, giving up no hits or walks. Jesus Colome pitched to two batters, giving up two runs on one hit and a walk. Joe Beimel blew his second save of the season, giving up a run on three hits and a balk, while striking out one. Julian Tavarez pitched an inning and a third, giving up only one hit and two walks, while striking out a batter. Joel Hanrahan pitched two scoreless innings, giving up only a hit and a walk, while striking out three. Kip Wells took the lost as he pitched an inning, giving up four runs on three hits and four walks, while striking out two. His record is now 0-1 with a 6.06 ERA.

The Phils had sixteen hits in the game, as the offense came awake late. Raul Ibanez and Pedro Feliz lead the team with four hits each, with both me knocking in a pair of runs. Carlos Ruiz followed with three hits, as he also knocked in two runs. Shane Victorino then followed with two hits, breaking out of his slump. Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard and Chris Coste got the other three Phils’ hits, with Howard’s hit being a three-run home run, while Coste’s was a pinch hit single. The Phils’ bat seems to wake up after Chad Durbin’s hitting of the Nats’ Nick Johnson in the sixth. If so, hopefully the bats will stay awake beyond their series with Washington.

The Phils (17-16, T-2nd) continue there four-games series in Washington with a day-night doubleheader against the Nationals (11-22, 5th). The first game will be played at Nationals Park with a 1:05 pm Eastern start. The Phils’ starter will be Brett Myers (2-2, 4.81), who is coming off a no-decision against the Braves on May 10, where he went six innings, allowing only one run on five runs and two walks, while striking out three, in the Phils’ 4-2 lost. He will be trying for his third win of the year. The Nats will counter with Scott Olsen (1-3, 7.00), who is coming off a no-decision against the D-backs, on May 10, giving up five runs on ten hits and three walks, while he struck out two, in the Nationals’ 10-8 lost. The Phils will be looking for their second straight win, while improving on their road record.

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